Following the
torching of two men at Malema informal settlement, the Nyanga Community Policing
Forum (CPF) has called for calm, citing the killings as barbaric.
The two men,
accused of robbery, were reportedly set alight on Tuesday 13 June. In a video
that went viral on social media, residents can be seen chatting to each other
while the bodies of two men burn down.
Dumisani Qwebe,
Nyanga CPF secretary, described residents’ behaviour as “uncalled
for”.
“The community
must refrain from taking the law into their own hands. What they did was bad.
We have law enforcement officers whose primary job is to keep peace in our
societies,” said Qwebe.
He urged the
community to work with the police to fight crime.
Qwebe stated that
it was everybody’s responsibility to fight crime in society.
Provincial police
spokesperson Sgt Wesley Twigg said Nyanga police are investigating two counts
of murder. He said the incident happened at about 16:05 near the Philippi
railway station. “The circumstances surrounding the incident are under
investigation. The motive for the attack is yet to be established and arrests
are yet to be made,” said Twigg.